Although ten successive years of having Pine Hill as their main sponsor have come to an end and staging their meet at the Usain Bolt Complex has chopped gate revenue by almost 70 per cent, the National Primary Schools’ Athletic Championships (NAPSAC) will continue to be a world-class marquee event for primary school athletes.
That position was emphasised by NAPSAC’s Richmark Cave when the 16th edition was launched yesterday in St Philip at Baileys Primary School, the defending boys’ champions, as well as the National Sports Council’s top primary school for 2017. The girls’ champions Charles F. Broome were also part of the 2018 launch.
Cave indicated that they had initiated discussion with the previous title sponsor since last October but it was only in mid-January this year that NAPSAC was told Pine Hill would be reducing the support by 40 per cent. To that end, NAPSAC was in a bid to find additional or a replacement main sponsor to help buffer the budget of $180 000.
“The late notification did not give us enough time to find a replacement title sponsor, but considering what NAPSAC means to the children and their schools, along with parents and family, we have been actively seeking and welcoming sponsors to continue this tradition of excellence in primary athletics,” said Cave.
Last year, both Bayleys and Charles F. Broome raised the bar of excellence by winning their Patsy Callender Zone and becoming overall champions which was a rarity for zone winners. This year the Patsy Callender Zone has attracted 16 schools with the same number competing in the Andrea Blackett and James Wedderburn Zones.
Fifteen schools are in the Anton Norris Zone with additional focus turning to the Obadele Thompson Zone where 19 schools will battle. St Luke’s Academy out of St Peter will take part for the first time, while traditional challenger People’s Cathedral have been switched to that zone.
The zonal meets will be held on February 12, 13, 15, 16 and 19. The quarter-finals will be on March 5, the semis on the March 14 and the finals on March 22.
The respective coaches of Bayleys and Charles F., Winfield Forde and Alphonza King, both stressed that their teams were not made up of any star athletes but were dependent on teamwork for success in the past and in the future.
This will be the third year that NAPSAC will be staged away from the National Stadium. (KB)
